I am ashamed to admit that when I was a young girl, I used to go to the back of my mother's closet where she would keep the presents she had wrapped for Christmas. The ones addressed to me I would fastidiously unwrap, look inside, and then wrap them up again. My mother never noticed the re-taped presents, and I never confessed to her of committing this sin until I was much older.
When my confession took place, one of my older brothers overheard and confessed to doing the same thing. He humorously told us that when he opened one of his Christmas presents early one year, he discovered a tape recorder, talked into the mike, and recorded his voice. Except he mistakenly forgot to erase the recording. To his horror and extreme embarrassment, he reopened the present on Christmas day and, without thinking, pushed play. The recording of his voice was heard by all his family members, but no one caught on. I couldn't help but laugh when I heard him tell this story. Out of all my brothers, he and I are the most alike in so many ways.
Well, back to the original story. On Christmas day, my husband and sons brought out two presents that I didn't know existed. One was from all of them and the other was from Daniel. They wanted me to open them first. I refused because I wanted them to open their presents first. Even though my husband and sons are persistent, I am more persistent.
When everyone had opened their presents except me, I turned to mine. I opened Daniel's first. Its wrapping paper was covered with cute, little kittens. When I unwrapped the present, I was so surprised! I never guessed it. It was an electronic picture frame! I am very excited to be able to display my pictures in this way. Right now I have it showing the pictures I recently took when my guest was here visiting. It is so cool!
When I opened my other present, I was even more surprised! It was a beautiful new camera! Even after opening Daniel's gift, I never guessed my other present. What a complete surprise! I was amazed my husband and sons were able to keep the two presents a secret from me. One of them usually gives it away.
Apparently, a little over a month ago, two of my sons secretly drove to the store and bought my present. Then Tim hid it deep in his closet. A few days before Christmas, my husband snuck out some wrapping paper and Matthew wrapped the present while I was grocery shopping. Tim even made a bow for it using a wide roll of ribbon. He didn't know how to make one before, but as I taught the young girl who was recently staying with us how to make her own Christmas bows the old-fashioned way, he sort of hung around and tried not to look too interested. (I was helping the young girl wrap up the presents she had bought at the West Edmonton Mall for all her family members.) Tim remembered the steps and tried to do it himself when I wasn't looking. I thought that was really sweet of him. He did a pretty good job too.
Before and after I moved to my current home two and a half years ago, I had strong misgivings about living in such a large city — for the previous 25 years I had only lived in small towns and communities. At times I can feel very lonely and sad. I miss my family and friends, especially this time of year. But I am blessed in the city and in the country!
"You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country."
Deuteronomy 28:3
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